Fendrascora was… embarrassed. It was a new emotion, one that'd snuck up on her at some point. She wasn't used to feeling embarrassed, but the occasion called for it as, at some point, she'd accidentally formed a connection to Love, and this particular flavor of embarrassment stemmed from that.

It was around twenty hours since Dei had left, and Fendrascora had discovered many things about herself- the biggest difference was her new purpose and the clarity it provided.

Ever since Clever had saved them from the Accipere, Fendrascora had sort of formed a crush on him, and partially acted a fool because of it. Since gaining her village of insects though… Fendrascora realized she had no interest in a romantic relationship whatsoever. The emotions of thinking in abstract concepts were still… new to her, and she hadn't stabilized herself yet. Any emotion she felt blasted through her mind because she did not have the experience required to think logically through the haze.

Hence, her embarrassment. She thought something was wrong with her when she suddenly stopped seeing Clever on a pedestal of sorts, and asked Aloran for guidance. His fatherly chuckle at the question made her flush, but she got the answer she needed.

"You're new to life," he said, "You don't know what you want and you're trying to find it. It's okay to misplace what you want for something close. Your mind is what? A year and a half old? The first year of that was spent in a torture chamber designed specifically to focus on your every anguish. Don't feel bad that you make some hasty conclusions, especially considering there are people out there that make the same mistakes after decades of living with their emotions. I have a theory as to why you latched onto Clever so quickly, would you like to hear it? Or is this too overwhelming for you?"

"Y-yes, please, I'd like to hear it" she told him pathetically, berating herself for stuttering.

Aloran thankfully made no comment on it. "Because he's young like you, but he seemed to know exactly where he was going at the time. You were still unsure about your path forward, but it looked like he had all the answers, so you held him as a role model. Not only that, but I suspect you've always wanted to take on a caretaker role as well, same as you did with the Gem Dwellers. Your caretaker tendency merged with the natural drive for life to reproduce and suddenly you figured you'd like a mate, but it was really just mixed or confusing signals. You don't want a mate, you want children, and now that you have a village of little creatures you've adopted, you've suddenly reached the ideal you set out to; you finally have exactly what you want, so the ambition to grow or have children is gone.

"As for seeing Clever in a new light? That is obviously because you realize Clever has no clue what he's doing. The one moment you defined his identity on, saving you all, was a fleeting thing. Clever knew how to win the battle, but he's quite the whimsical rascal. He doesn't know where he's going in life and, frankly, he doesn't really care. I believe if you ever find someone to love, Clever would be the opposite of what you want from romance. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, no, and you don't have to suddenly dislike Clever either. Your personalities are different, but you can absolutely still be friends."

Now that the subconscious reasoning was explained to her in such a logical way, Fendrascora felt herself calm significantly. She was still embarrassed from how she'd felt earlier, but it wasn't as bad and thankfully she hadn't done anything to show her internal dispute. This would stay between her and Aloran, letting her draw comfort from how nobody would ever know how dumb she'd been. Clever, Dei, and Perumah were never told about her "Crush" and they would never find out.

With her mind clearer, she asked another question that popped into her head ever since she found out about her new emotion: "What will happen if I form a connection to all fourteen Virtues and Vices? I didn't really know that I could do that… I knew it was possible, but not that I could do it."

Aloran made no comment on her desperate attempt to change the subject and obliged her curiosity. "Normally, a monster who connects with all fourteen on their own form a new Sapient Race which becomes prevalent throughout the multiverse. Because of The Mother's tampering though, this is much rarer than it should be. When The Mother senses a monster coming into sapience, she goes to them and offers to align them to an already-existing Sapient Race. She hates Sapient Races, and loses it whenever a new one pops up, but she can't kill every monster that wants to change. Instead, she finds a middle ground in preventing them from forming their own Races. Because she has aligned you with Human Sapience, you will become a Variant Human should you ever connect to all the Virtues and Vices, when you would otherwise have become a new Race completely."

Fendrascora felt irritation at what The Mother had done. What would she have become if she'd never taken the deal?

'Is that why she gave me Sapience directly before I was trapped and tortured, then refused to take it away? Because she knew it would hurt more with a mind? Was she… mad at me for growing closer to humans, and potentially even creating a new Race?! "What a bitch!" she accidentally said a bit too loud mentally, and her connection to Aloran picked it up.

Aloran roared with laughter, while she profusely apologized. "I'm sorry! Sorry! So sorry!"

When his chuckling subsided a bit, he said "Not at all! Just about everyone agrees with you. That spiteful old hag exists only to cause pain, and just about everyone hates her, including other high level monsters. The stronger a monster becomes, the smarter they get, so she goes out of her way to prevent them from forming Sapience by driving them insane as they grow. Those that throw her off early enough absolutely hate what she's done to all monsters, and those that don't simply do not have the minds to resist her anymore."

Fendrascora shivered, "Will that happen to me?"

"Very unlikely," Alorna assured, "You love humans too much. She drives them mad by slowly increasing their hatred for Sapience. Those that end up liking people always throw her off, so if you find yourself turning murderous, you'll know that it isn't you."

She felt slightly relieved, but would have to start working on a way to fully reject The Mother if she intended to live a long, sane life. Perhaps by completing all her Virtues and Vices, turning herself into a human completely?

Ehh… no. She liked being an Embodiment too much. She would simply ask Aloran how to go about freeing herself.

* * *

Fendrascora slowly made her way up through the Great River, into weaker waters. There'd been a few close calls with powerful monsters, but Clever had no trouble in turning flesh to vapor with his beam. That little lizard was doing something suspicious with it, but he danced around her questions when she tried figuring out what he was hiding.

Now that he was firmly categorized as "Friend" in her mind, she saw why people found his antics endearing. He was quite a cute lizard.

'Not for much longer though,' she thought amusedly, looking at him grow now.

It seemed that living on Dei's shoulder caused the lizard's growth to stagnate as he subconsciously limited himself to stay itty bitty.

He swam out into the Great River now, his form still seamlessly altering to match the surroundings. Normally, Korgonda's were hot, and had to keep it that way. Their boiling blood was vital to their survival, but his Racial bonus [Adaptable Body (Greater)] gave him unmatched leniency in that "Limitation."

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A larger ecosystem to take advantage of, bigger monsters to kill, and nothing holding him back made Clever shoot up like a weed. His webbed feet, fishlike tail, and narrow jaw gave him the maneuverability to live in the Great River, while the levels and extra food fueled the transformation. By now he was two or three feet tall, and as long as Dei was tall.

What made her extra suspicious of his abilities was that he didn't need nearly as much food as would normally be required for someone going through something he was. Where was he getting the energy to power the change? He still wouldn't answer her.

When they reached a place where Fendrascora was among the most powerful creatures, they prepared to settle in and work on their Skills when she received word from Aloran.

"Fendrascora, I need your and Clever's help" he said frustratedly. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but I need you to sneak close to the Gem Dweller waterways. Ensure you're not caught because we don't want them figuring out who you are or your connection to a destroyed village, but here's where I need you to go and what I need you to do…"

* * *

Clever walked forward proudly, growing closer to the stone wall. When he was within a foot of it, the wall disappeared abruptly and he hurried through the gate to the capital of the Gem Dwellers.

The gate guards looked at him incredulously as the wall came back up behind him.

One stepped forward. "You are…" he checked a piece of paper, "Vuh-tiz-tiz-va? The representative of… Aloran?"

"Yes," Vtztzva's booming voice emanated not from Clever, but behind the frills of his skull.

Out walked a tiny green beetle.

The man discreetly Identified the bug and sighed. "A Greengrow beetle… We'll need to position you with a guard detail for your safety, is that okay?"

"Yes," Vtztzva agreed.

Clever, the ride, followed along.

* * *

Clever didn't know how long it'd been since Dei left, but it was probably a while. His and Vtztzva's role in the situation with Oura fell to the wayside as the other Gods backed off, but Aloran still wanted them close just in case they tried something in his absence. Vtztzva confirmed through Aloran that Fendrascora was doing fine, so he wasn't concerned for her as they traveled through the little village to their destination- a place for him and the priest to stay.

Vtztzva said the location would be a surprise but Clever was going to like it, so he happily ran along to make it there faster. They were still guarded by some Gem Dwellers, but Clever had grown used to their presence.

When they arrived at a door flap, the guards stepped back and faded into the shadows right as it was pulled to the side, a hulking man locking eyes with Clever.

They stared at one another for several moments, frozen, when Clever exclaimed mentally, projecting his thought forward.

"Dei?!"

The man rocked back at his words as if struck.

* * *

When Fou realized who their guest was, she leapt into action, picking him up and holding him like a little baby while making cooing noises.

"Aww aren't you the cutest little guy?"

Clever had grown drastically in the month since Dei was gone, so he was actually larger than Fou, but she still had no trouble in hoisting him up into her arms. Gor laughed heartily at his wife.

Clever enjoyed being held so he said nothing and didn't squirm. As a matter of fact, he started shrinking to accommodate Mrs. Grrata, getting a joyful squeal when she realized he was now baby-sized.

He'd figured out that trick in his many hours of boredom while experimenting with [Adaptable Body] in his suite at the capital.

"So you're Clever!" Fou said, holding him by his upper arms and gently shaking him from side to side.

Clever sent off feelings of appreciation and contentment while nodding his head.

"Mom mom! Can I hold him?" Rena asked pleadingly.

"Me too!" Ben said.

"Sorry kiddo's, Clever's staying with me for a bit. Come on, let's go cook dinner and Clever can tell us about Dei's adventures!" she placed him on her shoulder and the lizard snuggled into her neck.

'What a nice family!' Clever thought.

* * *

Clever went on to regale them just about every moment he'd spent around Dei while eating some a variant of "Steak and potatoes," without any of the regular ingredients. Halfway through, both parents looked baffled at him.

"A source of spiritual energy? That's what he was looking for when he found you? How come we've never heard of this?"

Clever shrugged, "Dunno! Fendrascora's real nice. I don't know why he wouldn't say anything about her!"

Fou and Gor looked at each other. 'He's definitely sharing stuff Dei doesn't want us to know yet."

Neither said anything though, just listening to Clever as he went. Several things didn't match exactly with what Dei said, but they realized Clever was being 100% honest, while Dei held some things back to stop them from worrying.

* * *

"And then we got to the cave, and there was some kind of message over it saying not to go in but we did anyway. And that's where we met Fendrascora! She's an Embodiment of the Flow, and someone threw her in a jail because-"

Clever abruptly stopped talking and zoned out.

"Because…?" Gor prompted him.

"Oh… Ummm….. I don't think I was supposed to tell you about her."

The parents once more locked eyes as they figured out why Dei didn't mention her, but realized it would not be a topic for a child's ears.

"Skip that for now," Fou told him, "Tell us everything else though!"

"What?!" Ben shouted, "I wanna know! What'd she do?"

"Nothing!" Clever said way too quickly.

"Liar."

"Nuh uh."

"Enough," Gor said, "Let him finish the story, we can ask later. He doesn't have to tell us if he doesn't want to."

Ben huffed, but quieted down and let Clever hastily move past that part.

* * *

By the end of it, the crystals darkened and the children could barely stay awake, so the parents sent them to bed.

Clever, too, could barely stay awake, but they still had one more question for Clever.

"What'd Fendrascora do?" Gor asked imperiously.

"Ummm um. Nothing."

Fou pet Clever on the head gently, "Clever, buddy, we won't do anything to her. Based on what you said, she's definitely changed from her experience. We just want to know more about her. Not to mention, she isn't here with you now, is she?"

"No…"

"So she's sitting out in the cave systems alone? While you're here eating with us? We want to meet her as well, but we want to know what she did first before inviting her." Fou guilt tripped him easily.

Clever hemmed and hawed, still unsure of what to do. "It's not my secret to share, I'm sorry…"

Surprisingly, Vtztzva was the one to speak up first. The beetle was happy to fall into the background and nibble on some food here and there, but Aloran stepped in now through him.

"Aloran says to share it. It'll make Fendrascora happy too if she can talk to more humans, and he's sure the Grrata's will want to meet her if you tell them."

The parents blinked owlishly at the booming insect, but Clever simply nodded and jumped right in, saying "Alright so basically it started when she was an elemental…"

* * *

They couldn't smuggle Fendrascora into the village, but the Grrata's were happy to meet her out in the Wilderness Convergence in a hidden glade. Fendrascora and Clever were both far more powerful than anything in the area, so they weren't worried about danger either.

When they finally came upon the stream feeding into a small pond, they saw a red figure with several miniature objects within her. Her bottom half was an amorphous blob, but the formless top half took on a more humanoid appearance. When she came into view the parents saw her fidgeting aggressively, but she quickly put her arms down to the side when she saw them.

They watched her form a kind of air pocket in her body, which bubbled out of her mouth and released the carefully curated sound.

"Hello."

Fou's eyes lit up. "Fendrascora! It's wonderful to meet you. I hope you haven't waited here for too long?" she quickly crossed the field and pulled the girl into a hug, which Fendrascora hesitantly returned.

"Er, no ma'am…"

"Please, call me Fou! Now, I've heard so many good things about you, and I've brought some food for you to try. I actually bought it specially for you! It's imbued with some spirit energy and you should be able to draw strength from it, but tell me how it tastes!"

Fendrascora quickly relaxed, and the rest of the group occasionally joined in while Fou made her feel more relaxed. The children poked at her gelatinous arms and had their hands slapped away by Fou, but Fendrascora giggled and said she didn't mind.

It was an odd get-together, but it brought comfort to everyone to see so many that knew Dei in one place. Fou was the main speaker here, telling the monsters about her own adventures as well as how she and Gor met, keeping the mood light.

Fendrascora found herself gravitating towards Fou and her boisterous attitude, until she somehow found her head resting on Fou's lap while the woman talked the day away.

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